A Baby Boomer looks at health, finance, retirement, grown-up children and ... how time flies.

Monday, July 4, 2016

Finding Your Place in the World

Anyone who has a passing acquaintance with this blog knows that B and I have sold our house -- we're moving out in two weeks -- and are renting a small one-bedroom condo for a year while we go in search of our place to retire.

B and I have experienced one place in the world for a long time. But now we're looking at a challenge faced by many retirees -- finding a new place in the world. For many people it's right in the same town where they raised their family and where they've been living for years. But others, no longer tied down by job or family, may want to try an entirely new lifestyle -- perhaps in Florida or the Carolinas, or Arizona or the Pacific Northwest. It could even be in a place outside America, as featured in Kathleen Peddicord's blog Live and Invest Overseas.

Blogger Laura Lee Carter made a complete change in her life when she retired, moving from the city to the country. Today, she writes in What Is a Palisade Anyway? that she is busy driving to Taos to meet her brother, which inspired her to share a new painting by her niece the artist, as well as an Essay About Belonging she wrote a few years ago about finding her new place in the world.

An artist's eye on Arizona

Kathy Gottberg of SmartLiving365 turns her eye toward immigrants who come to this country in search of a better place to live. She says she does her best to stay away from politics -- not because she doesn't have opinions, but because the focus of her blog is to inspire and encourage all of us to form our own opinions from a space of awareness, compassion and personal responsibility. With that said, she offers 10 Lies We Tell Ourselves That Keep Us from Living Happy and Smart.

Meryl Baer, of Six Decades and Counting, sent me a missive wishing B and me good luck with the exhausting, seemingly endless process of packing up our house. She herself is dealing with a problem we may soon face ourselves. Glitches learning the
nuances of new electronic devices are common, if annoying, but problems using common new
appliances are unexpected. The Baers purchased a
kitchen range and assumed they knew how to use it. After all, she has owned and operated ovens her whole adult life. However, as she relates in Oven 101, she was wrong about this one. The result: She cooked a memorable meal for her family, but one that was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Regarding another consumer product -- one you're especially interested in if you're traveling to find your special place for the holiday -- on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide Rita R. Robison writes about the $14.7 billion Volkswagen settlement on charges of emissions cheating. The company will offer consumers a buyback for nearly 500,000 vehicles and spend up to $10 billion in payments to consumers.

And finally, Carol Cassara at Heart Mind Soul approaches the holiday by reminding us that these lazy summer days are meant for taking it easy and finding relaxing activities. To see how she discovered a place of peace and calm, float over to The Zen of Birdfeeding -- and enjoy a moment of quiet contemplation.

Lovely post Tom, and thanks for featuring Hailey's painting! You made one 20-year-old very happy! Good Luck with all your packing and major life changes! Eyes on the Prize! This will certainly be a good thing in the end...

Hi Tom! Happy 4th of July! Thanks for including me in your roundup yet again. I always look forward to being in touch with what your friends are writing AND I love the painting by Laura's niece. ~Kathy

I've been reading your blog for months. I'm just not a commenter. However, we now find ourselves considering exactly what you are doing. Reading you blog, it feels so exciting. Starting off on a new journey, just like pioneers. I just can't wait to see where you land! But I also wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading all of your posts. We are only two years into retirement and I am learning so much. Best of luck to you in all of your new and exciting endeavors!

I think you and B are brave to take this leap into the unknown. We don't want to move in our retirement as where we live ( Sierra Foothills) is nice. of course, if I had lots of money I would consider Santa Cruz or Capitola. But since we don't, here we are. I'm looking forward to your adventures.

You remind me of how much I hate moving, even though I'm getting tired of where I live, but for the most part we've been very happy here in the Northwest for 36 years. If you need any info on the Northwest just let me know.

Hubby and I didn't even pack up and move. We called our kids, told them we were taking nothing, asked them to take or tag so we could ship to them what they would like to keep, and the rest went to charities. Everything, except our SUV, a change of clothes and our favorite books which ended up as donations after a few years. We moved to a new state, Oregon, in a location we loved at first sight, and still love for all the same reason, and slowly furnished and changed our present residence to be just what we needed for this new stage. The process took us a few years; all exciting and adventurous. Wouldn't change a thing.

Well, Jeanie, we'll be pioneers together. Hope you are enjoying your retirement. There's definitely an excitement to moving; but there's a lot of stress as well. Meanwhile, if we already lived in California (if we could afford to live in California) we probably wouldn't be looking to move either. But we all start from where we are, and then go from there.

I'm already where some people go to vacation and it's pretty nice for the foreseeable future, but foreseeable is the key word. There is always, " What happens if..." and it might. Thanks for the links to the other blogs.

We left colorful Colorado in june of 1978 and a lovely tri-level home with real brick and gas f/a and lovely, only thing I quit a good govt. job to raise our only child. It has been challenging living in this area that rains most of the time, the coast is okay but we love eastern Washington and the dryness..for all of the 38 plus years in our home we have been THANKFUL AND GRATEFUL...hunger is a big issue here and also no jobs most have to commute to Portland and pay a huge price, on their bodies minds and soul, not to mention the income tax and the gasoline here is still in the $2.49 to $2.59 gallon and upwards, food is high as a sky but RENT HERE IS THE HIGHEST IN THE STATE NEXT TO KING COUNTY AND I MEAN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON..WE ARE AT THE butt end of the state and homes are selling for let's see $350,000 to $400,000 rent is ridiculous if you can even find a home to rent or apt. not exactly the kind of place to want to live and work if one can find a job at all..No if we had to do it over we would be in the seattle burbs, many lovely places and the jobs are there, no living in Seattle anymore but the best transportation system in the whole USA we go up often, have an Orca pass and ride the many types of transportation and the big thing is there are jobs in the seattle area, they are not here, so we thank god each minute, feed the hungry and help the homeless and victims of domestic violence, even our tiny neighborhood is experiencing crime coming from all the people pissed off they cannot enjoy any living in our county anymore, we will stay if it gets toooooo bad maybe we will move but we are not about to take out a mtg at our age whatsoever!

After much soul- searching, we decided to sell our too-big house in the suburbs of Toronto where we lived for 25 years and re-locate to a smaller city in South Western Ontario. We began purging, de-cluttering and organizing on Boxing Day. Our house sold quickly and we moved to a somewhat smaller home 3 weeks ago. In the past 7 months, I've experienced a continuum of emotions: anticipation, sadness, anxiety, frustration, and exuberance. Moving is both physically and emotionally taxing. Now that we've unpacked our essentials, we are taking a leisurely approach to the remaining boxes. Living in a new house and a new community creates so many possibilities. I look forward to this next phase of the retirement journey. I wish you and B strength, fortitude, and a sense of humour with your move and your search for a retirement destination.

We just bought a snow bird place in Ocala, Florida at On Top Of the World. We are loving it. For under $70,000 we have a town home all our own with a lovely yard and front porch that we do not have to care for. Love the people, love the ease of living in a small town that caters to retired folks. Love the 3 pools and 4 golf courses, the gym, library and classes offered there.

We knew we did not want to be on the coast, but within a short drive of it.

I never thought I would like Florida, or a senior development. Now I can not wait to leave our 1/3 of an acre 4 bedroom home to see our new place in November.

Good luck with the hunt! We checked out 4 states and 2 cities in Mexico before deciding on "home". You will make the perfect choice for you.

About Me

I’m a Baby Boomer, part of the pig-in-a-python demographic group that has brought so many changes to America – and will continue to do so until we cash our last Social Security check. I had a typical baby boomer career. I attended college, went to business school, worked for several companies, then in my mid-50s was laid off. Meanwhile, I got divorced, and my two kids left for college. Now I live with my significant other, B, who has two children of her own. We live in the New York area, a convenient stopover for our four peripatetic 20-somethings. And I produce this blog Sightings Over Sixty which covers health, finance, retirement – concerns of people who realize that somehow they have grown up.